Monday, January 4, 2016

Below is the introduction of a scenario I was going to run for my group taking place in Middle Earth with some substantial lore changes to support Clockwork and a few other items...

The Yule Tide

“In the Second Age of Middle Earth,
Celebrimbor crafted the Rings of Power under the

deceptive tutelage of Sauron. The Three
Rings of the Elves allowed the Eldar to preserve their

realms on Middle Earth.

Alas, this was not enough. The Valar
repeatedly called the Elves home, both in life and in death. Those
who refused the call in death stood to have their spirits enslaved by
the Enemy, while those who refused in life would eventually diminish
without the power of the Three Rings to protect them.

Before his demise, Celebrimbor crafted
the Esgal, intricate clockwork forms that could house the spirits of
the Avari to protect them from the Enemy after death, and created a
means for the Unwilling to forego their immortal, but diminishing
forms for a body that would last until the breaking of the world.

This was seen by many as a crime
against the natural order on par with the creation of the One Ring.

The Elves who were willing to answer
the call, did so quickly, those who wished for immortality as an
Esgal, or who were forced into a shell after death became the
dominant Elvish presence on Middle Earth.

The Dwarves soon learned the secret
of crafting Esgal of their own, and were not so selective as to where
the souls for these 'machines' originated. They saw the Esgal not as
a means to immortality, but as the key to non-stop mining, allowing
them to dig deeper into the bowels of the earth than would otherwise
be possible, oft times with tragic consequences.

Now we near the end of the Third
Age.

Some true Elves remain, Thranduil and
his mad court, now lurk in their fortress beneath the Mirkwood,
emerging for missions of mercy, malice or madness.

Galadriel herself dwells in darkness,
her power was instrumental in holding Sauron at bay, but only as she
herself covets the one ring, and sees it as the last hope to
resurrect her people and bring all of Middle Earth into her domain.”

The Prancing Pony is never a quiet
place, but two days until the start of the Yule festivities, the
noise of the inn-goers was enough to drive the fleas out of the
bedding in search of more peaceful environs.

Aragorn departed yesterday in search of
Gandalf who was due in town a week before, the common yarn about
Wizards never being later or being early notwithstanding.

You have been asked to travel to the
Shire, to inquire about the wellbeing of a certain 'Mr. Underhill',

who was also instructed to await the
arrival of the Wizard.

Mr Underhill has an item of great
import to all of Middle Earth, though what it is Aragorn could not
say.

Although it is winter, and a storm
rages, the warm hearths of the Shire at Yule await you at journey's
end...